Australia has lost one of its great sporting champions, with news that Alan Jones, our 1980 Formula One World Champion, has died aged 80.
Australia has lost one of its great sporting champions, with news that Alan Jones, our 1980 Formula One World Champion, has died aged 80.
I met Alan back in my Channel Nine days when we produced a television commercial with him and the late, great Darryl Eastlake for the launch of the first Sony PlayStation.
Two larger-than-life characters. You can imagine the atmosphere.
Alan also took me for a run around the old Amaroo Park Raceway. A nail-biter would be putting it mildly. There is something about sitting beside a Formula One World Champion that makes you reconsider your own definition of “quick”.
It remains a very special memory of a man who made an enormous contribution to Australian motorsport.
The Australian who helped build Williams
Jones fought his way into Formula One, making his debut in 1975 in a privately entered Hesketh before driving for Graham Hill’s team and Surtees. His breakthrough came with Shadow at the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix, where he claimed his first world championship race victory.
Joining Williams in 1978 proved decisive. Alongside Frank Williams and designer Patrick Head, Jones helped turn an ambitious young outfit into a championship-winning force. Four victories and third in the 1979 championship signalled what was coming.
In 1980, Jones won five Grands Prix and became Williams’ first Drivers’ World Champion. He was the second Australian to claim the title, following Sir Jack Brabham.
Two more victories followed in 1981 before he stepped away. The retirement didn’t quite stick: an Arrows appearance in 1983 and a return with Haas Lola in 1985–86 completed his F1 career.
His final tally was 12 Grand Prix victories from 116 starts.
Touring cars, V8s and Mount Panorama
Australian fans also knew Jones as a determined touring car racer, competing in Alfa Romeos, Ford Sierras, BMWs and V8 Falcons.
His strongest championship season came with Glenn Seton Racing in 1993, when he finished runner-up to Seton in the Australian Touring Car Championship. Across his ATCC/Supercars career, Jones recorded five race wins and 17 podium finishes.
Bathurst’s biggest prize eluded him, despite 19 starts in the 1000. He finished third with Colin Bond in 1988 and second alongside Allan Grice in 1995. He also established his own team with Ross and Jim Stone, racing under the Alan Jones Racing banner before leaving at the end of 1997.
A career far beyond Formula One
Jones’ versatility brought him the 1978 Can-Am championship and 1982 Australian GT Championship. He also won the 1980 Australian Grand Prix at Calder, before it became a world championship event, and shared victory in the 1993 Bathurst 12 Hour.
Appointed an MBE for services to motorsport in 1980, he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985. His standing was further recognised with Legend status in the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2019.
For another generation, his voice and forthright opinions on television brought Formula One into Australian living rooms.
A world champion, a formidable racer and a character I feel fortunate to have met.
Thanks for the memories, Alan. Especially that lap of Amaroo. I think my fingernails have only just recovered.
